A Sight For Tired Eyes
by Shanrock
Summary: Sleeping in seems to be a habit of Ash's. Once again, he proves that sleeping in isn't necessarily a bad thing. Contains some AdvanceShipping from Ash. AshxMay, SatoHaru, etc.


**Well, here it is, my first FanFic. Hope you enjoy it, and hope it lives up to the standards you're all used to.**

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**A SIGHT FOR TIRED EYES**

Ash grumbled something inaudible under his breath as he shifted around in his bed, rolling over to make himself comfortable. With a stretch and a yawn, he opened his eyes for the first time that day, only to hastily close them as his retinas were attacked by the glaring sunlight streaming through the windows. Cursing the sun for getting his day off to a bad start, he reluctantly swung his legs over the side of his bed, groaning with tiredness as he stretched the fatigue out of his limbs.

Shielding his eyes from further bombardment, he stalked over to his curtains and wrenched them shut, sighing with relief as his room was cast into a relative half-light. Yawning again, he trudged back to his bed and plonked himself down on it, his body weight causing the mattress to sag slightly and ruse Pikachu out of its slumber.

"_Pii…_" it muttered, ears twitching as it rose its head off the comfortable blanket it was nestled on.

"Hey Pikachu," Ash said, ruffling the fur between his first Pokémon's ears. "You ready for another day?" he asked, chuckling quietly as Pikachu shook itself in an effort to regain more consciousness. "That a yes?"

"_Chu,_" nodded the mouse Pokémon, perking its ears up and smiling at Ash, who was busy pulling on his trademark white shirt. Ash smirked back, and threw on his yellow-and-black sleeveless jacket, before donning his usual blue cargo pants, finishing the ensemble off with his traditional cap.

"Great! Well, whaddaya say we pop downstairs and see if Mom's made breakfast?" he offered. Pikachu jumped up at the thought of food, bounding forwards and leaping up onto Ash's shoulder, eliciting a laugh from the aspiring Pokémon Master. "I'm starving, too!" he laughed, opening the door and rushing down the stairs to the living room.

"Morning, Mom!" he called out as he jumped down the last few steps and into the house's lower storey. He turned into the kitchen and opened the fridge to grab a glass of Oran juice, but stopped short when something registered in his brain. "Mom?" he asked again, a little louder than last time, looking over his shoulder towards the living room, where his mother usually sat with a cup of coffee and a small meal for breakfast. Alas, she wasn't there.

_So where the heck _is_ she? _Ash wondered, glancing around the room as if expecting her to burst out from behind a cupboard. "Where do you think she is, buddy?" he asked Pikachu, who shrugged unhelpfully from his post on Ash's shoulder.

"She must've slept in…" he muttered, closing the fridge door and walking into the living room, but he stopped and let out a quiet laugh as something hit him. "I think this is the first time I've _ever_ woken up before her!" he grinned, Pikachu rolling its eyes and looking away. "Makes a nice change from _me_ being the one who sleeps in, now doesn't it?"

"_Chu pika pii pikachu pii chu,"_ Pikachu frowned.

"I know that," Ash replied. "And I'm thankful I _did_ sleep in that day," he added, causing a smile to light up on Pikachu's yellow face. Pikachu nuzzled its cheek against Ash's, and the smile spread onto its trainer's face.

"Well… I guess there's no point in trying to cook breakfast by myself," he mused, glancing shiftily at the kitchen. "I always end up burning it, and I think the _last thing_ Mom would want would be to wake up in a burning house…"

"_Pi pika pi chu pii."_

Ash shrugged. "Cereal's not filling enough," he rebutted, and Pikachu slapped a paw to its face in disbelief. Ash missed the gesture, however, and sat down on one of the couches in the living room, fishing the TV remote out from the gap between two cushions. "How'd this end up down here?" he pondered, looking as though he was actually talking to the remote, before twitching his head noncommittally and turning the TV on.

"—_this contest __**live**__ from Ecruteak City, right here in the heart of Johto! We're all ready to start the appeal round, with—"_

"Wow. A Contest, huh?" Ash wondered aloud, scratching his chin. "I didn't know they even _held_ Contests this early in the morning…"

"_Pii…" _Pikachu commented, pointing a paw at a spot halfway up the wall on Ash's left.

"Huh?" Ash said, his eyes following the line of Pikachu's paw until he saw that Pikachu was pointing at a clock. He didn't really see _why_ Pikachu was pointing at it, until he saw where the hands were aimed. "Ten thirty?!" he screeched, making Pikachu growl and cover its ears. "_Ten thirty?!_ _How the hell did I sleep in until—!"_

"_PIIKA!"_ Pikachu yelled, sparks crackling at its cheeks as it held its paws to its ears. Ash noticed the sparks, and promptly shut his mouth, knowing that his day was bad enough without Pikachu zapping him for being too loud.

"Sorry," Ash rushed, breathing a silent sigh of relief when the crackling stopped. "But _ten thirty?_ We missed breakfast…" he groaned, slumping back onto the couch with a defeated look on his face as Pikachu gingerly lowered its paws.

"_Ka? Pii pika chu pika pi chu."_

"I don't think Mom would like it if she _came home_ to a burning house," he pointed out, pulling his cap over his eyes as Pikachu let out a small sigh, resigning itself to Ash's proven culinary ineptitude.

"—_so let's get back to the action, with our first appeal!" _the female announcer on the TV declared. Ash pulled himself out of his reverie, taking his cap off his head and running a hand through his thick black hair as the television cut to a live broadcast of a well-decorated Contest Hall.

"Well, there's not much point hanging around here, Pikachu," declared Ash, reaching for the remote and aiming it at the television.

"—_se welcome to the stage the Princess of Hoenn, Ma—!"_ The TV cut off as Ash pressed the remote's power button.

"Wait, what?!" Ash yelled, dropping the remote in surprise. "No no no no no!" he yabbered as he scrambled around, plucking the remote up from the couch and hastily turning the television back on. The blank screen instantly switched back to the programme Ash had been watching moments ago, only the camera was no longer focused on the Hall itself. It was focused on a person, standing dead center in the middle of the lavish stage.

It was a girl—probably just shy of her teens—with shoulder length brown hair that curled down past her neck in two distinct bunches. Perched atop her head was a long, light pink veil, which elegantly flowed down the back of her head and reached to her knees, all held in place by a golden headband, the grass green gem at the front contrasting against the deep blue of her eyes. An orange and yellow tube top framed the top half of her torso, leaving her navel exposed and gently accentuating her chest. Below this, she had donned a floor length lavender dress which concealed the sandals she was wearing.

Ash stared, transfixed, as he saw May on the television screen. It had been well over a year since he'd last seen her, and she'd grown not only in stature, but also in confidence, he noted, as he studied her face. She looked relaxed, but Ash knew that she was more than focused enough on the task at hand; he could tell by the way she was smiling at the camera as she withdrew a Pokéball from the hem of her dress. Ash couldn't help but smile back at her, even though she was hundreds of miles away, the only link between them being the small screen in front of him. Pikachu glanced at its trainer, its friend, and hid a smirk as it saw the look on his face.

_Pii kapi…_ Pikachu mused, turning its own attention back to the television as May hurled the Pokéball onto the Contest stage.

"_Beautifly, take the stage!" _echoed May's voice out of the TV, the sound sending a slight shiver down Ash's spine as her Butterfly Pokémon burst out of the ball in a bright flash of white and blue light, accompanied by a puff of pink smoke and a shower of multi-coloured confetti. Her audience ooh-ed and aah-ed accordingly as May kicked off her routine.

"_Beautifly, let's start off with some Stun Spore!" _May ordered. Beautifly nodded at its' trainer, before it flapped its wings and released a storm of glowing particles out into the air. The crowd and judges murmured amongst themselves, but May had everything figured out. "_Great job! Now control them with Psychic!"_ Her Pokémon's body wrapped itself inside a pale blue outline as Beautifly focused on the fluorescent spores drifting across the stage. Every last spore was eventually shrouded inside the very same aura, as they slowly froze in midair, suspended well off the crowd as the stadium was plunged into a half-light, the only source of light being the spores and Beautifly.

The crowd all gasped with appreciation at once, and even Ash, so far away from it all, couldn't help but watch in awe as the scene unfolded. The stage was bathed in the pale blue light being radiated from Beautifly and the Stun Spore, softly illuminating May's slender form in the middle of it all. As Beautifly maintained the Psychic and lowered itself onto May's head, she gave a beaming smile at the audience, who cheered their approval as loud as they could. Ash could feel his heart beating fast as he watched. His eyes were glued to the screen, to the way May's body was being shown in the light. To Ash, she looked like a heavenly body amongst the floating Stun Spores, which glittered like stars under the influence of Beautifly's Psychic.

"_Time for the finale, Beautifly!" _May called out, and her Beautifly rose off her head, looking like an ethereal spirit as it gained height. _"Silver Wind!"_ The crowd and Ash all leaned in expectantly for the finish as Beautifly's wings fluttered backwards, shining with a strong white light. As Beautifly flapped its wings once more, a stream of silver crescents shot out of them, Beautifly rotating as it launched them. The crescents flew around Beautifly and May in long, lavish spirals, catching the glittering Stun Spores and tossing them around, as if they were caught in a strong breeze.

The mass of sparkling particles spun around May and her Pokémon as Beautifly ceased the attack; the beautiful whirlwind of light and colour with May at the center of it all, her arms raised to the skies. As though united by some unseen force, the entire audience jumped to their feet and applauded, whistled, and cheered their favourite Coordinator for the wonderful performance she had just put on. Even the judges were whispering excitedly to themselves as May acknowledge her crowd with a blissful smile and a thankful wave.

"Woooo! Go May!" Ash yelled, jumping to his feet and punching the air with a fist. The movement startled Pikachu, who had been seated right next to him, and had also been intently watching May's appeal. Although the Mouse Pokémon hadn't been _quite _as focused on it as Ash had been.

"_Pii pika ka pi pii!"_ Pikachu squeaked, tugging on the back of Ash's jacket.

"Huh?" Ash muttered, looking around to see what the source of noise was, and his look of confusion was replaced with a sheepish grin as he saw Pikachu standing behind him with an eyebrow raised. "Ha-ha, sorry Pikachu… I guess I just got a bit caught up in the moment…" he conceded, still grinning like an idiot, as a pink tinge worked its way onto his face

_You can say that again… _Pikachu thought, taking extra note of the way Ash had been staring at May on the television. Not to mention the tinge—which was now a strong red—on his cheeks was a bit of a dead giveaway to what was _really _going on in his head. Ash noticed the look Pikachu was giving his face, so he hastily turned around, which only confirmed Pikachu's suspicions.

"Well," he said hurriedly, as though he really needed to get somewhere, "How's about that spot of training, Pikachu? I just thought of a move that we could try out!" Ash rambled, turning around, scooping up the Electric type and returning it to its usual post atop his shoulder. He turned to Pikachu for an answer, and Pikachu, seeing the usual glint in his trainer's eyes, nodded, making no attempt to conceal the grin on its face as it did.

"Don't go getting any ideas, Pikachu," Ash warned as he marched to the front door, recognising the look. Pikachu only smirked wider as the blush worked its way back onto his face.

_By the looks of it, I'm not the _only _one who's been getting ideas, Ash, _Pikachu told itself, prodding the side of Ash's head as he opened the door. "_Pika pika pii,_" Pikachu said in Ash's ear. Barely concealing a laugh, Pikachu jumped to the ground as the dark haired boy's head jerked upwards, his face beet red.

"Uh, I—well… uh— I've got no idea _what _you're talking about, Pikachu!" Ash blubbered, quickly sprinting outside as the latter suppressed a giggle.

_Suuure you don't…_

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End file.
